The Wife: Living In Abundance (Jn. 10:10b), June 2012

Are you surprised? You may say to me “come on now pastor! I understand every other thing that you write about. What has ‘the wife’ got to do with living in Abundance and prosperity?” My reply to you is simple: Just about everything!

If you are married please read. If you are yet to marry please also read!

A wife is a woman that has a husband; a married woman; As Christians she is a woman who is married to a man who has no other wife. For a while, I had tried to understand the role(s) played by wives in the lives of their husbands and entire families particularly in the scriptures. In fact my conclusion is that every man and indeed every family, on this planet, is practically as successful; as strong; as weak; as divinely-connected or otherwise as the woman (wife) in that family/home. From Sarah to Rebekah, Jezebel to Zeresh; even to Abigail; Elizabeth to Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ); a man/ family is as successful as the wife in the home.

I have discovered that there are basically two categories of wives. To what category a man’s wife belongs plays an important role in determining the success or failure of such a man and consequently his family?

The first category is for wives who have little or no respect for the almighty God; Those wives who don’t love God and who show almost an absolute disregard to the power of the creator of Heaven and Earth. If someone doesn’t love God it is almost automatic and commonsense to understand that the fellow is an enemy of God. This category of wives apparently show total disregard to the most-high God and his servants. Their respect and loyalty are, impliedly to ungodly principalities and powers. In the end, no matter how successful their husbands and families were previously, these wives would ultimately drag everybody down to an inexplicable, calamitous failure. In fact, because God visits the repercussions of human actions unto future generations, the actions of this first category of wives tend to totally obliterate / seal the fate of future generations in the affected families. Ahab had a slight misunderstanding with Naboth. He coveted Naboth’s vineyard and when Naboth couldn’t surrender the land, Ahab was displeased. He couldn’t sleep. Then his wife; Jezebel took over the case. Check this out! Jezebel didn’t consult with Ahab. She figured out that the best solution to the problem was to eliminate an honest man (Naboth) who had no power in the society; no money; no popular connections/influence in the town. Without Ahab’s knowledge, Jezebel wrote evil letters, on Ahab’s behalf, with his Seal against Naboth with the support of the sons of Belial. As a result Naboth was executed (1 kgs. 21:4-13). However, that was not the end of the story. That action of Jezebel brought down the anger of God on Ahab and his future generations. Please note that God didn’t really spare Ahab. The fact that Ahab was not party to the final conspiracy to kill Naboth didn’t matter. Consequently Ahab died, Jezebel faced a very shameful death and all the future generations of that family were punished mainly as a result of the problem created by the ungodly wife in the home (1 Kgs. 21:21-29).

Haman had a similar problem with Mordecai (Est. 5:11-14). He came back home one day and complained about his encounters with Mordecai to Zeresh; his wife and her friends. They quickly advised him to construct gallows to hang Mordecai. If Zeresh had rather suggested to Haman to take it easy with Mordecai, perhaps Haman’s life would have been spared. Instead she encouraged her husband to construct gallows. Ultimately it was Haman (not Zeresh) that was hung in the gallows that he had made. That happened as a result of a wrong counsel from the wife at home.

The second category of wives is those who fear God; those that obey the almighty God; those that serve the Lord. They serve as a protective Shield to their husbands. They bring blessings instead of curses to their husbands/families. In fact because of such women God would have mercy on their husbands and their families. Nabal was a very ungrateful man. He was a mean, miserly fellow (I Sam. 25:1-25). He had received favors previously from David. However when David asked him for just a little favor in return, he refused to oblige him. Instead he insulted David (1Sam:25:10). David therefore made up his mind to deal with him. Somehow Abigail (Nabal’s wife) got to know and quickly intervened and saved the life of a husband who she had described as a man of Belial.

When you study the life of Abraham you will discover that the man would never have become who he was if not for the tenacious backing of Sarah. Same for Isaac; Rebekah played a very important role in his success and also in the success and future of his family unto God’s divine plan. When you move to the New Testament you find Elizabeth and Zacharias. The Bible records that the two of them were great servants of the almighty God and God had to open her womb after a long case of bareness to give birth to John the Baptist. It is also important that we note that when the angel appeared to talk about an Event that will change the world forever; the coming of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, the angel didn’t appear first to Joseph but to Mary; the wife in the home (Lk.1:1-37).

A man’s future can be greatly determined / sealed by the wife. God created women and gave them a powerful place in the life of their husbands and families (1 Cor. 11:3). When a woman is playing the role that almighty God had designed for her in a family, that family must surely succeed. However, when they don’t, the family will fail. Even when the man may not be directly responsible for the actions of the wife (as we saw in Jezebel’s case), he would most often end up being one of the first (if not the first) individuals that will receive the initial repercussions of the actions, inactions of the wife.

That is why, as Christians, I encourage every husband to threat his wife with a great deal of respect and love. The reason being that God has given them a great responsibility with respect to our future and the future of our families. Trust your wife; love her; treat her with respect and kindness so that all will be well with you. As long as your wife is a child of God; as long as she is happy with you; she will surely bring you promotion, abundance, health and success from the Throne of Grace. It is extremely dangerous to maltreat a wife given to you by God. Don’t cheat on her; don’t deceive her. Don’t be dishonest with her. If you do, then I can only be sorry for you. You know why? God who is your witness will not answer your prayers (1 pet. 3:7, Mal. 2:14). Unfortunately and regrettably that will be the beginning of a shameful decline into unexpected disastrous precipice.

In the scriptures, men who achieved a lot in their lives; men who made indelible marks on the sands of time of humanity; men who recorded huge successes; men who lived long enough in accordance with the promise of the almighty God for their lives were men who treated their God-given wives with respect, trust, love, humility and regard. A typical example was Abraham. On the hand almost every man that treated the wife with disregard, lack of love, shame, disrespect, ended up breaking the covenant of Heaven and the consequence(s) to them was very unpleasant.

This brings me to some key question/comment. To the man first: As a man to what category does your wife belong? I am convinced that your wife was given to you by almighty God to be your supporter in accordance with your divine calling and purpose in redemption. Please treat her well so that it will be well with you.

To the wife: Play your God-given role in the home. Keep praying for your husband(s) and family. Forgive when you are offended. Remember God is looking at you. Your relationship with the almighty God will, to a very great extent, determine the relationship of your family with the almighty God. This might be the main determining factor for success/failure, life/death. You can’t afford to fail now.

If you have not given your life to Christ please do so now for tomorrow might be too late.